#Indian Whispers on #Rape, #Racism and Corporate Funding

Why would Indian women’s groups who’ve been stridently vocal in their support for one of India’s worst gang rape/sex-trafficking cases, remain mute when an American women’s organization had a key accused in the case, speak at their 2013 global conference?

More specifically —— why would the angry whisperings about this event, among Indian feminists, not be openly expressed?

The Suryanelli gang rape case is one of the longest running, high profile rape cases in India, perhaps more so than even the Delhi gang rape case [click here to read about the case]. This is not only because of its brutality, but also because for the Indian women’s movement this case has come to symbolize the patriarchal power structure—of government, police and judiciary—that facilitates rape. Rape is allowed as a privilege of power.

This however is not a new revelation! For indeed, it is what women’s movements even in the west have long recognized and fought against to stop rape and other forms of violence against women in their respective countries.

So then why did the U.S. based organization, Women Deliver, have the Indian politician, Kurien, a key accused in the Suryanelli case, speak at their conference?

More importantly, what is being asked by Indian feminists is what basis was Kurien selected on?

A quick google check on him immediately throws up words like rape and sex-trafficking! Surely, that’s not why Women Deliver thought he’d be an ideal candidate to speak on – on all things – women’s sexual and reproductive empowerment?

This much women in India know – no women’s group in India could have ever nominated Kurien as speaker. In that case, the question that everyone is asking is who is Women Deliver liaising with in India? Whoever they are partnering with obviously intends to make a mockery not just of the Suryanelli victim, but of Indian women’s fight against systemic rape and violence.

Women Deliver is not telling. In fact the organization has bent over backwards to protect its trusted partner, to the point it has gone on the offensive against the victim! In their statement they’ve dismissed the Suryanelli case as a “controversy.” No apologies, no sympathy, no empathy towards the rape survivor. It is a language and attitude that American feminists would never permit among their own ranks towards a rape victim in their country. In fact, many western feminists have pointed out even after reading details of this case, that Kurien has not yet been convicted! Really? Would an American feminist organization invite a man accused of gang-rape to speak on women’s empowerment, saying he’s only accused, not convicted?

So what makes Women Deliver think they can apathetically run-over an Indian gang rape survivor like she was nothing more than a road-kill?

This cagey, irregular response has another contention circulating among the Indian women’s groups. The word is — that not only was Kurien’s invitation intentional, but the intention was to “help clean uphis image” particularly in the ‘gender’ department. This is vital for the ruling political party that Kurien belongs to that’s now thinking ahead to the coming elections in India.

It may sound strange – for why would any women’s organization do this? But there is a good reason.

Over the last decade or so, there’s been an expanding and dubious nexus between NGOs, wealthy corporations, and governments that have created the perfect venue for exactly these kinds of incidents and choices by women’s and other cause related groups.

Western multinational corporations desperately want to break into the Indian market. What they’ve figured out is that if they put a teeny-tiny fraction of their zillion dollar industry, into women’s, children’s, or other social causes, they can actually buy themselves a human mask to wear over their otherwise publicly mistrusted and exploitative image.

The problem for them is that rape and other forms of systemic violence on women and girls is sustained by the government’s own power structure and hierarchy! So corporations need to ensure that they keep the Indian government satisfied by ignoring, even downplaying, the system that actually sustains violence! They do this with the funding leash they have around the ‘humanitarian’ NGOs they finance.

The NGO and often the people running them are like performing monkeys that can always be induced to do a trick or two, like making a man accused of crimes against ‘women’ – appear ‘good’ or at least put him with the ‘good group’ and use language so that even his crime becomes questionable!

Interestingly, representatives of billion dollar foundations like the Gates, Clinton and Bush with a keen India focus, either with corporate (cheap Indian labor, big Indian markets) or political vested interests (as in getting the wealthy, Indo-American causcus’s support) , were among the highlights of the Women Deliver conference.

It is not hard to see how this all works once you look at the whole picture. The Delhi bus rape victim is an ideal ‘poster’ case for the escalating rape and violence in India. However there are gang rape survivors like the Suryanelli survivor and the Park Street survivor, who are still alive, who are speaking out, and fighting for justice. These are cases that have just as high a profile as the Delhi Gang Rape case and even more so. While the government, police and judicial corruption that played a role in the Delhi Gang Rape case have all but been, downplayed and buried in less than a year, the Suryanelli case, even 16 years on is kept alive and visible by the effort of the victim and her own family, local women’s support groups and the media.

If global women’s groups and international organizations want to address the issue of rape and violence on Indian women, why don’t they focus on the cases of rape survivors fighting for justice in India?

What makes the Delhi gang rape case so attractive from the NGO and corporate funding viewpoint is that the victim cannot speak for herself. A dead victim is much easier poster ‘model’ to stage-manage to suit your NGO goals, because you can put words and thoughts on and around her, which she probably might not have used if she could speak for herself. That is why gang rape survivors who are still fighting for justice, who are battling the system—the government, police and judiciary, and speaking the truths about the system that sustains this violence, are side-stepped by corporate funded global NGOs.

Corporate funded NGOs, take the ‘hearts and smiles’ approach. They follow the corporate sale ethics and float absurd notions, making them salable and likeable – like ‘one girl at a time’ mantra! There are thousands of girls and women killed in India every year; more than 50 million women have been exterminated from the country. Can you imagine if this approach was taken to the Jewish genocide? Every time a volunteer organization battled odds and rescued a Jew – they had a celebration party and jubilantly told the world this was their formulae for saving the Jews – ‘One Jew at a time?’

Unfortunately when the goals of a cause come face to face with the commercial goals of the corporation that funds it, the cause always takes a back-seat.

The anger in the Indian women’s movement towards Kurien’s invitation therefore points to the larger political undertones that make us feel ‘sold out.’ “I’m so angry! How can they get away with this?” is what many Indian feminists have said to me repeatedly – quietly, in private conversations.

But why haven’t they spoken out – loudly? Why haven’t they demanded answers to these pertinent questions from Women Deliver?

Well, here’s one reason. When The 50 Million Missing Campaign sent a tweet to high profile American feminist who incidentally has written a book personalizing the ‘vagina,’ she promptly, without even a reply, stopped supporting the campaign on twitter! This feminist was closing ranks with her American sisters regardless of what they had done!

It is this kind of indirect arm-twisting that makes Indian feminists afraid to speak out even for their rights!

If Indian (or third world) feminists don’t toe the line, the next thing they and their cause will be black-listed, and discreetly excluded from global conferences, publications, and even funding houses.

For all our show of cross-cultural sisterhood that fact is that there is a clear hierarchy in the global feminist movement. It’s dominated, dictated to and directed by prominent western white feminists.

This hierarchy has been challenged by Black and Latino feminists both in the U.S., and globally. Indian feminists have been far more subdued. Part of the reason maybe that racism is internalized in the Indian feminist movement. Indian feminists, particularly the older generations, are often content to don their saris and jewelry, and play the role of ‘exotic’ Indian cause, where they can rub shoulders with ‘famous’ western feminists at glamorous, corporate funded, highly publicized conferences. They understand that to continue they have to sometimes compromise on their cause or even their sisters, like their Suryanelli sister. In fact their gallantry if any, is oddly about defending and/or explaining violence on Indian women in colorful, metaphorical language of culture instead of plain and simple ‘murder.’

Probably this is the reason that Indian feminism has not been able to directly acknowledge how racism compounds violence on women within India itself.

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There has been much talk about rape and violence by the Indian military on women in North-eastern India. But the fact is that women from India’s North East have oriental features, and because of their racial distinctiveness, they face sexual harassment and sexual assault in other parts of India too!

A couple of years ago, after a rash of violent attacks and rapes of North-eastern women in Delhi, I was astonished listening to a panel of feminists on the television, who talked about “cross-cultural” differences (like they were discussing visitors from another planet), and gave a host of ‘reasons’ for these rapes. But not once did they acknowledge that these were racist acts! Till Indian feminists can acknowledge and unflinchingly address this racism by name, we will not have the courage or integrity to address it in context of the larger, global feminist movement.

If the western feminist movement is not able to acknowledge and unflinchingly address the racist hierarchy in the global feminist movement – they are unwittingly perpetuating the race-based, global patriarchal hierarchy.

PLEASE SIGN OUR PETITION TO ‘WOMEN DELIVER’ DEMANDING THEY MAKE AN OFFICIAL APOLOGY TO THE SURYANELLI VICTIM:

India is said to be a land of Great Knowledge. Then why do I have to remind Indian that genocide/feticide is worse than cannibalism. How low do humans have to sink in their self serving interests, before they see the the simple truth that is “blowing in the wind”? Social equality must be attained where it does not yet exist (everywhere), but for a human to wish for social equality, they must first be human!

I can try to answer this question. The rapist politician P. J. Kurien is a Congress leader and a christian. Majority of Human Rights establishments are christian-controlled or christian-dominated. Indian MPs (including Marxists who are christians) will stand united in sending letters to Barack Obama to deny a US Visa to Narendra Modi, even if it displays a murky weird picture of Indian politics. But when it comes to tackling corruption, bad governance, policy stagnation, inflation, poverty, etc. you will notice that these issues are sidelined.

Because these human rights establishments are christian-dominated, they indirectly serve to protect and propagate only christianity. I’m not anti-christian, but when the international christian human rights establishments turn a deaf ear to rapes, persecutions, abductions of innocent Hindus in the countries of pakistan, bangladesh, malaysia, it is alarming and sad.

No one will raise a voice against this christian rapist politician P. J. Kurien simply because he is a christian and a Congress leader from Kerala. And by now, Ma’am, you must be aware that majority of Indian press has continually and persistently shown that it is clearly pro-Congress and pro-UPA and cruelly biased against the BJP and its allies.

As far as I am concerned the ban on Modi by the U.S. and other countries needs to continue. For he is definitely responsible for allowing the persecution and mass killings and rapes of Muslims in his state, under his watch. However, I believe the same ban needs to be imposed on the Congress leadership Sonia Gandhi and her son (the VP of the Congress party) for shielding politicians and other accused of doing exactly the same to the Sikhs — their targeted massacre and rape — in 1984. Indeed there are many other politicians besides Kurien, with rape and other criminal charges that the Congress party protects. So yes, you raise a pertinent point, and I agree Sonia Gandhi probably because of her European Christian background does not face the same condemnation and ban in western countries, as Modi does. But that’s something that the Indian community abroad, particularly the Sikhs should focus on.

I am agree with you, ”Dark Prince”, agree with your analysis, as i have read the christian morality of Rape. So, i will ask you and also ask shri, Rita Banerji, to first read book, ‘The city of God’, where saint shri Auguistin has his mystical analysis….like rapist is also messenger of God, and punishing those women, who pride herself for her virginity….better please you read this book, before any movement about Rape and Rapist, because What Dark Prince is saying is so real….movement must be direct against Christianity or against religion as such. This meant, criminal must be punished, that is not question, but question is about direction of movement.

So far Narendra Modi is concerned, he is absolutely right,, his basic policy is development, and he is model politician for world also, not and never wrong…… America is foolish, absolute foolish in considering his foolish enemy’s pleading, and learn nothing from Osama Bin Laden’s strategy…and learn nothing from idiot communist’s conspiracy in favor criminals…If you…RitaG…truly seek to guide movement against rapist, you must first understand true cause of rape in historical context, and here Christianity is history of rape, Muslim is just imitating what Christianity has founded….Do not blame Hindustan, or Hindu, because Hindu is nothing without philosophy, and Hindu was original founder of philosophy, which was robbed of by Christian theologist….

There is no question about punishment of rapist, so it is not on debate but ’cause’ involve serous debate. Your movement, grossly blame India, and ignore its true cause, then how will you expect ‘cure ?.

America is not moral authority, America is same foolish as Indian politician sound foolish in judging terrorist’s psychology. Modi has correctly judge, and adopt true policy, as a result, Gujarat state has achieved magnificent industrial progress. Do you believe ? Have you see Surat City ? Gujarat ? here, a girl age 11 to 13 can wander on road at night time like 10 to 11,,,that is quite impossible in Hindi speaking Indian states…..and this is because of Modi’s intelligent and honest ruling….Other ruler are neither nor…neither intelligent nor honest….Thanks to the Dark Prince….being you are so true !!!

I don’t think you understand what is being said here. I am not talking about any specific religion committing human rights atrocities here. If you are talking about violence on women in India — it is being committed in all communities. But in the discussion above, I am talking about how violence on women is used as a power tool by political parties in India, and that regardless of who commits the crime, the Constitution and the rule of the law must hold. Modi has to account for permitting the mass rapes of Muslim women in his state under his watch in 2002. That’s the way of a civilized democracy. And yes — India is responsible for the female genocide and must answer under International human rights law.

Ma’am, I’ve been following your blog since December, 2012, when I first noticed it. I thoroughly appreciate the work you are doing for the feminist cause. I want to clarify that initially I wasn’t particularly a Modi-supporter, but now, after witnessing the politics of Congress, I am become one.

I condemn what happened in 2002 and the loss of lives. But Narendra Modi is not responsible for the incident, and his innocence has been substantiated by investigating authorities too. Also, notably, the perpetrators of 2002 have been caught, tried, sentenced and jailed. But the perpetrators of 1984 riots started by Congress workers themselves remain at large. Two main perpetrators Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler are roaming scot-free, and till-date they have never been punished for the horrific crimes they committed. Congress was even audacious enough to give a ticket to Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar to fight for elections from some constituency.

Perpetrators of 2002 have been tried and sentenced, whereas the perpetrators of 1984 riots remain free and acquitted from charges. Doesn’t this paint a grim picture of the Congress party? Even the juvenile culprit of the December 16 gang-rape had some connection to Congress party. And I know that Suryanelli’s case is also traumatic, she is barred from entering Church.

Main culprits of 1984 riots like Jagdish Tytler are christians. Jagdish Tytler is a converted-christian who took his second name from James Tytler, whom he admired. Jagdish’s wife’s name is Jennifer Tytler. Sonia Gandhi’s father was an Italian fascist and part of the Nazi army fighting in the Soviet Union during World War II.

Christian marxist extremists are committing the very same atrocities (rapes, persecutions, forced conversions) in the north-eastern Indian states. No one is even raising a voice. I don’t want to turn this into a religious argument, but felt important to clarify on these issues.

All this apart, Narendra Modi is not perfect. He is not a magician with a magic wand who will turn India into a superpower overnight. But he is the foremost efficient and most capable leader who should be given a chance to transform India from its present state to a better country economically, socially, and politically. India needs a leader like him.

I strive to fight for feminist causes and also believe in woman-empowerment, which I believe Mr. Modi will aptly deliver.

I put Rajiv Gandhi and Narendra Modi on the same platform in that they head the government (of the country or state) and turned a blind eye to allow the majority to target a minority in the most barbaric manner because they personally thought it “justified.” Under any civilized Constitution in a democractic country the person in charge is held accountable: be it the Sikh rapes and massacre under Rajiv Gandhi in 1984 or the Muslim rapes and massacre under Modi in 2002. Rajiv Gandhi is dead. But the only reason the criminals in his party who were his henchmen and who organized the attacks are obviously being protected by Sonia his widow who is now in charge. But there are all kinds of people other than Tytler, like Sajjan Kumar, who are being protected, whatever their religion is. Do not put civil and human rights of any person or community on the same platform as economics or money or cash. Hitler may have turned Germany into a super-power in Europe but he was still a criminal who headed a criminal state responsible for mass scale human rights atrocities.

@ Rita
Please allow me to insert a little correction here: Hitler did not made Germany a super power. I know that in India there is sometimes a weird perception of this guy. So from the beginning: Germany had in fact its golden age (following the industrialisation and unification) in the 19th and early 20th century. This is the time that actually made Germany a super power. I recommend reading “the German genius” of Peter Watson. The following rise of Germany (and other European nations) unsettled the balance in Europe by giving birth to a power struggle and eventually led to the 1st world war (WWI). After first world war all guilt was dropped on Germany alongside with hefty fines (reparations), this then de-stabilized Germany politically that left and right extremists groups rised. These extremists offered simple answers to the misery could prosper, the coming the world economic crisis further de-stabilized it. Interesting thing is that in 1932 the second last vote before dictatorship the numbers of NSDAP were actually falling as general economic outloc became more rosy. The seizure of power by the NSDAP in 1933 was orchestrated by terror against communists and then “legalized” by the christian Zentrum who gave in in order not to be the next. The rise of Germany under NSDAP is largely a myth. What happened is that they went on a spending spee (credit based and with focus to prepare Germany to war), by extortion they were able to releave some of effects of the WWI reparations (as part of the appeasement policy of our neighbors). Fact remains in 1939 Germany was bancrupt, this was only eased by the ceased treasures of the nations that we Germans in early WWII attacked and enslaved. Ever heart of the Joke: “hinter jedem Deutschen Tank wartet schon die Dresdener Bank” (After every German Tank already waits the Dresdener Bank). After devestating Europe and beeing the cause of 50 million deaths my nation in turn lost its souvereignity for 50 years. Thankfully though the victors made a better job in not again blaming Germany for everything as they needed us as part of a bigger power struggle which in the end allowed the hatred to be reduced and led to peaceful integration of Europe. So Hitler was indeed a criminal madman a big desaster for my nation. In fact this man and his cronnies in their 12 years reign ended the golden age of Germany.

@ the Dark Prince
I am only an observer from afar, the wish for a strong leader often comes at times where large parts of the soceity feel powerless to inside or outside forces. Coming from a region in the world that was “gifted” with strong leaders in the last century I can tell you they are often phychopaths. Because the very same power that allows them to make swift decisions makes them inhumane. Ask yourself: are you in a war, in a life and death scenario because this is the only time when you might need such a Fuehrer.

To my observation soceity is largely a shared dream as no state in the world has the means to enforce all its laws. People follow the rules because they believe in soceity. I don’t know Mr. Modi so you will not hear anything about him here today but I would like to ask a question: If you feel you require someone at the top (metaphorical speaking) with a stick to bump some heads and set things right in other words make everyone dream the right dream… so if soceity is a dream what kind of dream such a leader with a stick is likely to create?

If I would be you I would not put my hopes in strong men of any kind. Healthy societies grow from root level.

Tom, whether it is Hitler, or Modi or Milosevic, I believe that ultimately leaders like this can orchestrate genocides only because they tap into what would be acceptable to the masses, and not the other way around. I don’t accept that these men caused people to kill and exterminate the minority groups, but that in these societies all participated because there is that ugly, raw, good feeling of power over another. So I think, with all mass killings including the female genocide in India, we must hold every participant accountable, including the by-standers who politely look away, and don’t protest or resist.

I am appalled at the breathtaking level of immunity all men in India seem to have with regard to crimes against women. The other issues you raise–men in positions of power, racist motives, the influence of the market and Christian-dominated NGOs–make it seem that nothing will ever change. But I believe it can all change, very slowly, with the commitment of feminists worldwide. We must never give up.

Brillant article! Campaigning in women,s rights publically happens around early March in the UK, events are supported by corporate organisations for that month alone. As if campaigning is à seasonal event and only happens if it funded by corporate groups.

Does western feminist only exist because of corporate funding, where is passion for justice against violent crime. Where is the unity against rapes in the military in Western feminism, do they dare to even write against thèse crimes? Or about abusé by BBC, can dancing really magically resolve the issues?

What about Indian female campaigners living in Europe, there are some of us who are alone, don,t West fancy saris and cannot be bothered anymore to play the games like monkeys to corporates, government and Asian groups to the system? Where do they fit in and what can they do when Western feminist have there own agenda? And Indian femininst appear so distant?

GurmitKaur, thanks for posting this comment. Because that’s the first step. We have to speak out loudly. More Indian women need to speak out. And there are western feminists too who we know agree but who must show their support openly. And if enough of us speak out, and speak aloud, we can challenge this hierarchy and insist on an equal platform on the global feminist agenda, where our issues are not simply ‘exotic’ props for a western feminist agenda. We’d be very happy for you to write for our blog. If you can, please leave a message for Rita here

“…fact is that there is a clear hierarchy in the global feminist movement. It’s dominated, dictated to and directed by prominent western white feminists…”
my question: what does an American celebrity speaker, like the daughter of Clinton, EARN for a speech? How much $$? And who would pay the costs for a poor Indian feminist as a speaker, hotel in USA or Europe etc.? It’s a business – and India’s women are ignored … – they are only good as victims, delivering stuff to talk about, to earn money with the topic of gender morality (in TV talk shows) …

Jodi-Ann, I think that this is a old problem the world over. But as I explain in this article, even in India. And it is not just race but class and caste which are factors too in the differential treatment of rape victims by women’s groups themselves. I’ve had Indian feminists from the middle, upper class, the elite, worldly wise, globe-trotting — who’ve outright told me to let this go! They would never say this if the victim was from their own class. Feminists in the movement in India and globally keep saying the Delhi bus rape case resonated because we could relate. She was like us! That’s why we were angry. But the Suryanelli victim is from a small village. Her family is not well-off and they’ve struggle to survive day to day, being shunted from house to house, thrown out of jobs, for 16 years as they fight for justice. And hence she is dispensable? Feminists do treat rape victims of their own race and class better than those of another race or class? If we have this kind of racism and classism in the feminist movement we can never have equality or safety as a universal right for women.

Dear Rita Banerjee, women are ill-treated in every community in every country by the following; parents, sibling, friends, husbands, co-workers, employers, police, politicians and anybody in power or for money. This has been going on for millennium and even promoted by some religions. This is the sad truth and some women have been just blasted to bits or butchered to hide the rape incident. Because of the sheer population size in India, it appears to be more common. Actually the prevalence is probably the same all over the world; some communities just hide or ignore these problems. It is commendable that you have highlighted this problem. We need extremely severe punishments to be meted out for those who are involved in rape and courts must be compelled to finalize these cases within a set time frame.
Education is the key to reduce these inhuman acts and through the UN resolutions needs to be passed that a significant amount of funding should be spent on education for girls so that they do not easily fall victim. Please keep your pursuit alive and those who have invited the politician for the particular “Women Deliver” event must be shamed publicly. Western communities are no different from Asians, the discrimination and skewed behavior are exactly the same if not more. In a world where we worship Mary, RadhaRani and Kwan Yin Ma as divine embodiment of mother hood it is a shame humans defile women.